Hmmm, according to the USDA, 165 is a safe temperature for chicken. And the wikipedia entry on Salmonella states:

To protect against Salmonella infection, it is recommended that food be heated for at least ten minutes at 75 °C (167 °F) so that the center of the food reaches this temperature.

So I was overcooking the chicken

"How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, 'This is better than we thought! The Universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant. God must be even greater than we dreamed'? Instead they say, 'No, no, no! My god is a little god, and I want him to stay that way.'" - Carl Sagan

"To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection." - Henri Poincaré

"I don't mean to sound bitter, cynical or cruel; but I am, so that's how it comes out." ~ Bill Hicks."To argue with a person who has renounced reason is like administering medicine to the dead." ~ Thomas Paine."One should not believe everything one reads on the internet." ~ Abraham Lincoln."I linked the number of MPs to the number of votes. If you'd done a real Science degree you'd understand sticking to the point." ~ daftbeaker.

Boil the red lentils and puy lentils until the red lentils disintegrate. Fry about 1/3 of an onion, some garlic and chilli, and add to the drained lentils. Add the chickpeas and cumin, then add tomato puree until it stops looking like the colour of vomit, then simmer for 10 mins.

Grind the garlic in a mortar and pestle with a pinch of salt. Chop the cucumber finely into cubes. Add the cucumber, garlic and mint to the yoghurt. Refrigerate until needed, then serve with poppadums.

Thaw the peas and spinach in warm water. Chop the potatoes to <1cm cubes and boil until cooked and leave to cool. Combine the ingredients in a bowl, and add cold water until they form a stiff dough. Make 3cm balls of dough and rest them for 20 minutes. Deep fry until a rich golden brown, and drain on kitchen paper.

Preheat your oven to "burn the house down". Mix the flour, baking powder and sugar in a bowl, then make a hole / well in the middle of the bowl. Mix the milk and oil as best you can and pour it into the well. Mix it up to form a dough and knead it for 10 minutes. Leave it to rise in a bowl with a wet cloth over it for about an hour.

Put the pistachios, almonds, brown sugar and sultanas in a blender and blend it a bit.

Take it out of the bowl, knock the air out of it (gently - don't beat the crap out of it), divide it into 2, roll it out and spread the filling mix over half the rolled out dough. Fold it over and pinch the edges shut.

Put the naan bread on a greased tray and put in a painfully hot oven. Melt the ghee in a pan (or a cup in the microwave). When the dough starts to look like proper naan bread (depends on your oven); take it out, brush it with ghee, turn it over, put it back in. When the other side looks cooked, brush with ghee and leave it to cool.

Boil the potatoes whole (skins on) in boiling water with some turmeric in it. Drain the potatoes. Melt the ghee in a wok or frying pan, toss the potatoes in the ghee, remove from the heat, add the mint, toss the potatoes some more. You're done.

Fry a chopped onion, about 2 chillis, about 2 tsps ginger on a gentle heat, add the chicken. Once the chicken starts to brown, squeeze in the lemon juice, add the crushed cumin seeds and the ground cumin.

Add the garam masala paste and a little water to make a sauce. Simmer for 10 mins. You're done.

Fry about 1 chopped onion with some garlic, chilli and ginger until the onion is transparent. Add the tomatoes and simmer until they start to fall apart.

In a separate pan, heat some oil (or ghee if you've got it), throw the seeds in and wait for them to start popping. When they start to pop, throw in the lamb and allow it to brown all over.

Add the meat to the tomatoes (oil and all), add the curry leaves, stir in some garam masala until it looks / smells right, and simmer for 10 minutes. At the last minute, stir in some chopped coriander, and if you want it hot some raw chopped chilli.

Serve poppadums first, with the vegetable medley and the spicy onions and yoghurt sauce.

Follow that with the pakora and pakora sauce.

Serve the three main dishes with rice, the potato dish and naan bread (I put a teaspoon of turmeric in the rice, you can also add star anise or cardomom as long as you remember to fish it out again before serving).

I usually need a large espresso and maybe a wee dram afterwards, to aid the digestion.

Wine suggestions:

A new world reisling, maybe a Kendermans; a viognier like Cono Sur; or my personal favourite, Brown Brothers' dry muscat.Bon Appetit!

"I don't mean to sound bitter, cynical or cruel; but I am, so that's how it comes out." ~ Bill Hicks."To argue with a person who has renounced reason is like administering medicine to the dead." ~ Thomas Paine."One should not believe everything one reads on the internet." ~ Abraham Lincoln."I linked the number of MPs to the number of votes. If you'd done a real Science degree you'd understand sticking to the point." ~ daftbeaker.

I'm on the map: show up some Friday and you'll get fed. We'll teach you metric as a bonus.

"I don't mean to sound bitter, cynical or cruel; but I am, so that's how it comes out." ~ Bill Hicks."To argue with a person who has renounced reason is like administering medicine to the dead." ~ Thomas Paine."One should not believe everything one reads on the internet." ~ Abraham Lincoln."I linked the number of MPs to the number of votes. If you'd done a real Science degree you'd understand sticking to the point." ~ daftbeaker.